Shipyard explosion blamed on gas buildup

SAN DIEGO – Poor ventilation contributed to a fuel-tank explosion that nearly killed a shipyard welder working on the Navy cruiser Lake Champlain last month in San Diego, said a labor official close to the federal investigation of the incident.

The Navy cruiser Lake Champlain, seen arriving in San Diego after a deployment in 2002, is the focus of a federal investigation after an explosion last month nearly killed a welder at the BAE Systems shipyard on Harbor Drive.
NELVIN CEPEDA / Union-Tribune

The Navy cruiser Lake Champlain, seen arriving in San Diego after a deployment in 2002, is the focus of a federal investigation after an explosion last month nearly killed a welder at the BAE Systems shipyard on Harbor Drive.

The official's revelations come as a former safety inspector aboard the ship is suing his past employer, claiming he was fired just before the accident because he argued with his bosses for more inspections in the fuel tank.

The Lake Champlain explosion occurred Nov. 10 in an 8-foot-by-8-foot compartment of the fuel tank. The ship was in drydock at the BAE Systems Inc. shipyard on Harbor Drive near the Coronado Bridge. BAE and an adjacent shipyard, General Dynamics NASSCO, share a maintenance contract for the ship.

The accident occurred after highly flammable oxygen built up in the compartment, said Robert Godinez, president of the Shipyard Workers Union.

When a welder returned to the site after lunch and turned on his torch, the flame ignited the oxygen, Godinez said. The flash fire caused him serious burns, and three of his colleagues suffered minor burns.

The compartment where the welder worked should have contained a hose pumping in fresh air and one bringing bad air out, Godinez said. Instead, he said, there was nothing except a manhole-sized opening into the rest of the fuel tank.

“On this day, they had no fresh air being pumped into the room,” Godinez said. “If there was ventilation, the accident would never have occurred.”

Godinez said the accident is strikingly similar to two incidents at the NASSCO shipyard in 2002 and 2003. And in September, a flash fire attributed to a buildup of fumes burned five people working aboard the Navy cruiser Leyte Gulf at a BAE shipyard in Norfolk, Va.

Godinez's union represents many of the 200 people who worked on the Lake Champlain for NASSCO and some of its subcontractors at the time of the explosion. As such, Godinez said, he regularly receives status reports on the investigation.

He said union rules forbid him from releasing the name of the badly injured welder. He described the victim as a widower in his early 20s who is caring for a young daughter. The man recently awoke from a coma that was medically induced, Godinez said.

Federal officials can't discuss the explosion until they finish their probe, said James Wolff, who is leading the investigation for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Karl Johnson, a NASSCO spokesman, said he couldn't comment on the investigation. “We're going to be responsible and finish that before we talk about what's right and wrong,” he said.

Godinez said shipyard work is dangerous because it frequently involves workers with welding torches or other tools that spark in spaces where gases can build up.

Poor ventilation, he said, contributed to two explosions at NASSCO in recent years: one in 2002 inside a building and one the next year aboard the amphibious assault ship Tarawa.

Johnson said both accidents resulted from poor torch handling by the workers. After those incidents – and after the Lake Champlain explosion – NASSCO reminded workers about proper handling procedures, particularly when the torches are not in use.